Downtown Arena Construction: A look into the future

The first media tour of the construction site for Roger’s Place was given earlier this week. To the excitement of the city, officials said the downtown arena is on schedule and budget, and will be open by 2016. Among the promised amenities is the world’s largest high definition scoreboard. It’s exciting to know that by 2016 Daryl Katz will finally be able to deliver on his promise of bringing the world’s largest high definition scoreboard to Edmonton.

However, it is my prediction that in 2016 the construction site won’t look much different than it does now. A scoreboard will be nowhere in sight and a few beams will have been added here and there. Despite the slow progress, we’ll persevere, trusting that those in charge know what they’re doing. Now and again there will be glimmers of hope. Maybe some empty arena seats, or the world’s largest LED zero, and after years of disappointing, near non-existent progress Daryl Katz will inform the city in an open letter that the build is taking much longer than anticipated.

Before long it’ll be 2021, seven years later, and we’ll all be looking at pile of rubble in the downtown core, wondering what we went wrong.